EOS-1D Mark II at the Super Bowl

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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2004-01-30

EOS-1D Mark II at the Super Bowl
By Rudy Winston, Canon Pro Markets

Photo by Rudy Winston / Canon Pro Markets

David Sparer, Canon Pro Markets Rep., left, shows Jeff Snyder from Penn Camera the new Canon EOS-1D Mark II in the Canon trailer outside Reliant Stadium on Friday afternoon.

The first public showing of the newly-announced Canon EOS-1D Mark II was at Canon's media trailer outside of Houston's Reliant Stadium prior to Sunday's Super Bowl. Credentialed photographers coming in for equipment clean and checks, and loans, have been able to handle working samples of the camera and the response has been uniformly enthusiastic.

Canon Pro Market Rep David Sparer showed comparative samples of studio shots taken with a pre-production EOS-1D Mark II and a competitive camera which immediately highlighted some of the Mark II's image quality advantages. And everyone who handled the camera saw its added speed. Among the other new features that photographers who saw the camera were excited about are its new E-TTL II flash metering system, the new color compensation feature, the high-resolution LCD monitor and its magnified playback capability, the increased AF speed, and the superior battery life.

For some shooters, the new flash metering system is perhaps the biggest single change with the new EOS-1D Mark II. Unlike every previous EOS camera, the Mark II no longer links flash metering concentration at the active AF point - instead, a much "smarter" system calculates which of the central 17 metering zones to concentrate on based on an analysis of the pre-flash fired by EX-series speedlites. It's far more consistent, and works well for shooters who like to lock focus and then re-compose. Furthermore, to minimize problems with light or dark-colored subjects, the Mark II uses distance information from compatible Canon EF lenses to properly render these subjects.

About the only negative response heard was that photographers wouldn't be able to borrow Mark II cameras from CPS to shoot the Super Bowl on Sunday - it's expected to be available starting in April. Otherwise, if the initial reception among shooters at the Super Bowl is any indication, the camera looks like it's ready to hit the ground running among sports photographers.

The Penn Camera trailer (Trailer #10 in the Media Compound, for those who are still on the way) here at the Super Bowl has been jammed, and Jeff Snyder has enjoyed meeting so many of you here in Houston. The "BIG" question for Jeff has been "How much and when can I get one?"

"Penn Camera is accepting "Pre-Orders" now, so please email me or contact me next week when I get back from chilly Houston," said Snyder.

Related Email Addresses:

Jeff Snyder: jsnyder@penncamera.com